This generation of manufacturing automation and controls leaders includes 19 young professionals excelling in control system design and teaching others about the fun in engineering, while resolving local and global challenges through smarter applications of automation and control technologies.

Amanda McLeman, Managing Editor, and Mark T. Hoske, Content Manager

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To help inspiring engineering excellence among youth, Control Engineering recognizes 19 engineering leaders in its second “Leaders Under 40” recognition program, announced Oct. 21, 2011, online and in the October 2011 North American edition of Control Engineering. We asked that applicants be under 40 years of age as of Nov. 1, 2011, and have made a strong contribution to the control engineering profession. We hope that highlighting these well-rounded individuals will help interest young people in engineering careers at end-users companies, automation and control vendors, system integrators, automation consultants, and in engineering education. These next-generation leaders show the world a snapshot of what’s fun and worthwhile about engineering.

View our Leaders Under 40 interactive photo wall - click this link or the image below.

Control engineering’s cool factor

Here are some quotes from the Control Engineering “class of 2011” Leaders Under 40, explaining why they think control engineering is a cool profession.

• “It’s common for us to create a vision of what our future is like or...the path ahead. Truth is that we can always make our own path, and few careers are better suited to that than those of engineers,” said Aaron Crews.
• Jamie Schmidt is working on a project in Bangkok, Thailand, and she also trains others on the design and troubleshooting of intrinsically safe control systems: “If you are interested in doing something, don’t let anyone stop you. Never be intimidated.”
• When Graham Nasby was 12 years old, he and his father, hiking in Northern Ontario, knocked on the door of a hydroelectric power station and got an impromptu tour, showing “how water flow was regulated using valves, how the exciter current for generators was created using dynamos, and how generators were automatically synchronized to deliver power to the grid. I was hooked. I knew I wanted to be involved with electrical engineering and automatic control systems.”
• Brett Beauregard equipped his meat smoker with a homemade PID controller. “Holding the temperature to ±1 degree may seem over the top, but I can taste the difference.”
• Ben Mansfield, in his first exposure to the profession, found himself “constantly thinking about product limitations and trying to understand why a particular feature worked a certain way. It was a great experience; there’s nothing quite like successfully finishing a start-up after so many months of work.”
• Finally, Jason Stoddard said: “I get to do everything from robots to hydraulic controls, and get to play with some cool things while doing it. It is honestly the best job. I can’t see how anyone wouldn’t want to do it.”

What’s in a number? Leaders Under 40

Among the 19 Control Engineering Leaders under 40, Class of 2011:

• 13 enjoy various outdoor activities, including canoeing, gardening, skiing, surveying/mapping caves, tennis, volleyball, and two each for biking, hiking, and soccer.
• 9 studied electrical engineering
• 7 are active mentors
• 6 studied chemical engineering
• 5 have contributed to the ISA
• 4 work with robotics/CNC
• 3 have integrated controllers to help with household activities
• 2 have contributed to the IEEE, studied mechanical engineering, and are U.S. veterans

Many civic, fundraising, non-profit, and charitable organizations benefit from winners’ efforts, including a handicap skiing program, March of Dimes, and Boy Scouts of America.

Announcing our Leaders Under 40, Class of 2011

View our Leaders Under 40 photo wall.

• Wael Badawy, President, IntelliView Technologies Inc.
• Brett Beauregard, Director – Product Development, Control Station Inc.
• Aaron Crews, Principal Control Systems Engineer, Emerson Process Management
• E.J. Daigle, Academic Director – Robotics + Manufacturing, Dunwoody College of Technology
• Kris Dornan, Process End-User Marketing Manager, Rockwell Automation Inc.

• Matt Goska, Mechatronics Engineer, Siemens
• Chad Harper, Operations Manager, Maverick Technologies
• Levi Hill, I+E technician, Kinder Morgan CO₂
• Mitch Johnson, President, JMS Southeast Inc.
• Ryan Kautzky, Electromechanical Design Engineer, CUI Inc.

• Jeffrey Kent, Technical Associate Director – Global Baby + Toddler Care Engineering, Procter + Gamble
• Ben Mansfield, Manager with PlantPAx Process Automation System, Rockwell Automation Inc.
• Patrick Marcus, President, Marcus Engineering LLC
• Brady Melchior, President, Rugid Computer Inc.
• Graham Nasby, Engineer, Eramosa Engineering Inc.

• Tony Paine, President and CEO, Kepware Technologies
• Chad Schaffer, Associate Process Instrumentation + Controls Engineer, Burns + McDonnell
• Jamie Schmidt, Lead Project Engineer, Interstates Control Systems Inc.
• Jason Stoddard, Lead Controls Engineer, Michigan Custom Machines Inc.

See the digital edition six-page article; "Leaders Under 40, Control Engineering class of 2011," starting on page 40, at http://bit.ly/pQcm8Q.

- By Amanda McLeman, Managing Editor, and Mark T. Hoske, Content Manager, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com.

Control Engineering Leaders under 40, Class of 2010